Device for supporting burner and dryer with the same

ABSTRACT

A device for supporting a burner ( 20 ) and a dryer having the same are disclosed, in which a structure for supporting the burner is simplified, thereby decreasing the manufacturing price and fabricating of the device is easy. The device for supporting the burner includes a base ( 70 ), a burner generating a hot air, a support member ( 60 ) having a main connecting part provided between the base and the burner for being detachably inserted to the base so as to support the burner.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a dryer, and more particularly, to adevice for supporting a burner producing heated air to dry the laundryand a dryer with the same.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a dryer is a device of drying the laundry by use of hot anddamp air, and includes a burner for producing the hot and damp air,i.e., heated air.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional dryer, and FIG.2 is a cross sectional view of a conventional burner supporting devicefor a dryer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the dryer includes a drum 1 having a cabinet (notshown) forming its appearance and receiving an object to be driedtherein. The drum 1 has a cylindrical shape with both ends thereofopened, and is rotated by a separate driving unit (not shown). To thisend, the drum 1 is provided at an outer periphery thereof with a beltgroove 2, which a driving belt (not shown) is wound on the belt groove.Also, the drum 1 is provided at an inner periphery thereof with a baffle1 a for tumbling the object to be dried during a rotation.

The drum 1 is provided at both opened ends thereof with a front head 3and a rear head 5, respectively. A sealant 6 is interposed between thefront head 3 and the drum 1 and between the rear head 5 and the drum 1for prevent the leakage. The front head 3 is formed with a through-hole4 for communicating the interior and exterior of the drum 1, and thethrough-hole 4 is selectively opened/closed by a door (not shown). Anoutlet assembly 11 is installed in a channel, through which the air isdischarged from the drum 1, located under the through-hole 4 of thefront head 3. The outlet assembly 11 is provided at a front thereof witha lint filter 12 for filtering out small, fine particles from thedischarged air.

Also, the outlet assembly 11 is provided at the front thereof with alint duct 13 accommodating the lint filter 12 therein and communicatedwith the outlet assembly 11. A blower 14 is installed at a rear of thelint duct 13. The blower 14 is to compulsorily discharge the air fromthe interior of the drum 1. The blower 14 is installed in a blowerhousing 15, and the blower housing 15 is communicated with the lint duct13 and coupled to a discharge pipe 16 toward the exterior. The air inthe drum 1 is discharged to the exterior through the outlet assembly 1,the lint duct 13, the blower housing 15 and the discharge pipe 16, byturns.

An air supply duct 17 is installed at a rear of the rear head 5, and aheated-air duct 18 is located under the air supply duct 17. The airsupply duct 17 and the heated-air duct 18 serve as a role of supplyingthe heated air into the drum 1. To this end, a burner 20 is provided atthe front of the heated-air duct 18.

The burner 20 includes a burner body 21 for injecting supplied gas, anda mixing pipe 22 extending from the burner body 21 to the interior ofthe heated-air duct 18. The burner body 21 is connected to a gas supplypipe 24, and has a valve (not shown) for controlling the supply of thegas. The mixing pipe 22 is to mix the gas injected from the burner body21 with the air. The mixing pipe 22 is provided at a front end thereofwith a spark plug 23 for igniting the burner.

The structure of supporting the burner 20 will now be described withreference to FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, a bottom surface of the cabinet or a separate base30 has a ‘

’-shaped support portion 40 for supporting the burner 20. The burner 20is supported on the support portion 40, with the mixing pipe 22 seatingon an upper surface of the support portion 40. Fastening flanges 41 areextended from both ends of the support portion 40, and are coupled tothe base 30. The fastening flange 41 is rigidly secured to the base byseparate fastening screws 42.

The conventional structure of supporting the burner 20 has a followingproblem.

In order to secure the support portion 40 to the base 30, it is requiredfor a number of fastening screws 42. It causes the number of componentsto be increased, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost. In addition,the individually fastening operation of the fastening screws 42 resultsin the increased number of the assembling operation, therebysignificantly reducing the assembling productivity.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a device forsupporting a burner that substantially obviates one or more of theproblems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device for supportinga burner capable of simplifying the structure, thereby reducing aproduction cost and improving assembly work.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dryer having theabove burner supporting device.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theobjectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized andattained by the structure particularly pointed out in the writtendescription and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, there isprovided a device for supporting a burner, the device comprising: abase; a burner for producing heated air; and a supporting memberinstalled between the base and the burner for supporting the burner andhaving a main coupling portion detachably fitted to the base.

The supporting member further has an auxiliary coupling portion fastenedto base by a fastening screw. The supporting member consists of asupport portion supporting a bottom surface of the burner, and a flangeextended parallel with the base from an end of the support portion andforming the main coupling portion and the auxiliary coupling portion.

The base has a latch member, to which the main coupling portion isinserted, and an engaging hole for receiving the fasten screw. At thattime, a latch hole is formed at the main coupling portion, and a latchboss is formed at the latch member and inserted to the latch hole whenthe main coupling portion is inserted to the latch member.

The latch member is integrally formed with the base, in other words, isformed by cutting and bending the base. The latch member is formed at aposition corresponding to each of both corners of the main couplingportion, and has a triangular inserting groove corresponding to thecorner of the main coupling portion.

The device further comprises a burner base interposed between the burnerand the supporting member, on which the burner is seated. The burnerbase has a body guide supporting the burner body, and a pipe seatingportion supporting a mixing pipe of the burner. The pipe seating portionis provided with a seating channel having a curvature corresponding to ashape of the mixing pipe.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda dryer comprising: a cabinet; a drum rotatably installed in an interiorof the cabinet and receiving an object to be dried therein; a burnerinstalled in the interior of the cabinet for producing heated air; anair duct for guiding the heated air produced by the burner into thedrum; and a supporting member installed between a bottom surface of thecabinet and the burner for supporting the burner, and having a maincoupling portion detachably fitted to the cabinet and an auxiliarycoupling portion fastened to the cabinet by a fasten screw.

With the structure of the present invention, the supporting member issufficiently supported by the bottom surface of the base or cabinet byonly the process of inserting the main coupling portion to the latchmember. Accordingly, it may reduce the number of fasten screws, therebyreducing a production cost and reduce a process of assembling operation,thereby improving assembly work.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional dryer;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a conventional burner supportingdevice for a dryer.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a burner supporting device for adryer according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for showing a burner base and a supportingmember of a burner supporting device according to the present invention;and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a burner supporting device according to thepresent invention, in which a supporting member is mounted on a base.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a burner supporting device for adryer according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective viewfor showing a burner base and a supporting member of the burnersupporting device according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is aplan view of the burner supporting device according to the presentinvention, in which the supporting member is mounted on the base.

In advance of the description, the burner supporting device hereinafteris a part of the dryer shown in FIG. 1. The burner supporting deviceaccording to the present invention may be applied to any apparatushaving a burner, for example, a combined laundry washing/drying machine,as well as a dryer.

As shown in FIG. 3, a burner 20 is provided on a bottom surface of acabinet 50 for producing heated air. The burner 20 is a gas burner, andincludes a burner body 21 for injecting supplied gas, and a mixing pipe22 extending from the burner body 21 to the interior of the heated airduct 18. The burner body 21 is connected to a gas supply pipe 24 (seeFIG. 1), and has a valve (not shown) for controlling the supply of thegas. The mixing pipe 22 is to mix the gas injected from the burner body21 with the air. The mixing pipe 22 is provided at a front end thereofwith a spark plug 23 for igniting the burner.

The heated air duct 18 is connected to an air supply duct 17communicated with the drum. In case flame is formed at the leading end,the heated air is produced in the heated-air duct 18, and is supplied tothe interior of the drum through the air supply duct 17.

The burner 20 is supported on the bottom surface of the cabinet 50 by asupporting member 60. The supporting member 60 includes, as shown inFIG. 4, ‘

’-shaped support portions 61 and 63, and fastening flanges 65 and 67extended parallel with the bottom surface of the cabinet 50 from an endof the support portion.

The support portion has an upper plate 61 having a desired area andsupporting a bottom surface of the burner 20, and side plates 63 benttoward the bottom surface of the cabinet 50 from the upper plate 61. Theupper plate 61 may be formed in such a manner that it is inclined upwardtoward the heated-air duct 18 according to a design condition of themixing pipe 22. The fastening flanges 65 and 67 are extended ends of theside plate 63, respectively.

The right fastening flange 65 of the fastening flanges shown in figuresis a main coupling portion, while the left fastening flange 67 is anauxiliary coupling portion. The main coupling portion 65 is a portiondetachable to the bottom surface of the cabinet 50, while the auxiliarycoupling portion 67 is a portion secured to the bottom surface of thecabinet 50 by a fastening screw 69. To this end, the auxiliary couplingportion 67 is formed with an engaging hole 68 receiving the fasteningscrew 67 (referring to FIG. 5).

The cabinet 50 is provided at the bottom surface thereof with a latchmember 51, to which the main coupling portion 65 is inserted, so thatthe main coupling portion 65 may be fastened to the cabinet 50. Thelatch member 51 is formed by cutting and bending the cabinet 50, and hasan approximately ‘

’ shape. The main coupling portion 65 is formed with a latch hole 66,and a latch boss 53 protruded under the latch member 51. When the maincoupling portion 65 is inserted to the interior of the latch member 51,the latch boss 53 is inserted to the latch hole 66. The latch boss 53and the latch hole 66 are to strong the coupling force of the maincoupling portion 65.

The latch hole 66 of the main coupling portion 65 and the engaging hole68 of the auxiliary coupling portion 67 have the same inner diameter.This is to utilize the same tool upon boring the engaging hole 68 andthe latch hole 66. At that time, since the boring work may be achievedwithout altering the tool, the work efficiency is improved.

As shown in FIG. 5, the latch member 51 is formed at a positioncorresponding to each of both corners of the main coupling portion 65.The latch member 51 has a triangular inserting groove corresponding tothe corner of the main coupling portion 65, when viewing at the top. Inaddition, the latch boss 53 is formed at a center of the latch member51. When the main coupling portion 51 is inserted to the latching member51, both edges 65 a of the main coupling portion adjacent to the cornerof the main coupling portion 65 are supported by an inner wall of thelatch member 61. Whatever the main coupling portion 65 is applied withforce of any direction, the latch member 65 more rigidly supports themain coupling portion 65.

As shown in FIG. 4, a burner base 70 is interposed between the burner 20and the supporting member 60. The burner base 70 is seated on the upperplate 61 of the supporting member to support the burner 20.Specifically, The burner base 70 includes a body guide 71 supporting theburner body 21, and a pipe seating portion 73 supporting the mixing pipe22. The body guide 71 is protruded from the upper plate 61, and the pipeseating portion 73 is seated on the upper plate 61. The pipe seatingportion 73 is provided with a seating channel 74 having a curvaturecorresponding to the mixing pipe 22 of the burner 20. The seatingchannel 74 is formed with a through-hole 75 penetrating the pipe seatingportion 73.

The assembling process of the burner supporting device according to thepresent invention will now be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the supporting member 60 is coupled to the bottomsurface of the cabinet 50, and the burner 20 is seated on the supportingmember 60, with the burner base 70 interposed between the burner and thesupporting member.

Describing the procedures in order, after the main coupling portion 65of the supporting member 60 is inserted to the latch member 51, theauxiliary coupling portion 67 is coupled to the cabinet 50.Specifically, if the main coupling portion 65 is fully inserted to thelatch member 51, it seems to be a pre-assembled condition that the latchboss 53 is seated in the latch hole 66. At that time, the engaging hole68 of the auxiliary coupling portion 67 naturally corresponds to theengaging hole of the cabinet 50. After that, by fastening the fasteningscrew 69 to the engaging hole 68, the supporting member 60 is fullycoupled to the cabinet 50. This state is shown in FIG. 5. The maincoupling portion 65 is inserted to the triangular latch member 51. Inthis case, the latch member 51 restricts the movements of the supportingmember 60, so that the supporting member 60 may not move in anydirection.

And then, the pipe seating portion 73 of the burner base 70 is seated onthe upper plate 61 of the supporting member 60, and the burner 20 isseated on the burner base 70. At that time, the burner body 21 is seatedon the body guide 71, and the mixing pipe 22 is seated on the pipeseating portion 73. According to that the mixing pipe 22 is seated in arecessed groove, i.e., the seating channel 74, the burner 20 is rigidlysupported by the burner base 70.

While the present invention has been described and illustrated hereinwith reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that various modifications and variationscan be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers themodifications and variations of this invention that come within thescope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The burner supporting device and the dryer with the same according tothe present invention has an effect as following.

The supporting member of the present invention includes the maincoupling portion inserted to the cabinet, and the auxiliary couplingportion fastened to the cabinet by the fasten screw. Specifically, themain coupling portion is inserted to the latch member of the cabinet,while the auxiliary coupling portion is fastened to the cabinet by thefasten screw.

Accordingly, the present invention may reduce the number of fastenscrews, thereby reducing a production cost and reduce a process ofassembling operation, thereby improving assembly work.

The present invention may rigidly couple the supporting member to thecabinet by use of the main coupling portion and the auxiliary couplingportion.

1. A device for supporting a burner, the device comprising: a base; a burner for producing heated air; and a supporting member installed between the base and the burner for supporting the burner and having a main coupling and an auxiliary coupling fastened to the base by a fastening screw, wherein the main coupling is detachably inserted into the base.
 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting member has a support portion supporting a bottom surface of the burner, and a flange extending parallel with the base from an end of the support portion and forming the main coupling and the auxiliary coupling.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the base has a latch member, to which the main coupling is inserted, and an engaging hole for receiving the fastening screw.
 4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the latch member is formed by cutting and bending the base.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the supporting member has a latch hole formed at the main coupling, and a latch boss formed at the latch member and inserted to the latch hole when the main coupling is inserted to the latch member.
 6. The device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the latch hole of the main coupling and the engaging hole of the auxiliary coupling have a same inner diameter.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the latch member is formed at a position corresponding to each of both corners of the main coupling, and has a triangular inserting groove corresponding to the corner of the main coupling.
 8. The device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a burner base interposed between the burner and the supporting member, on which the burner is seated.
 9. The device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the burner base has a body guide supporting the burner body, and a pipe seating portion supporting a mixing pipe of the burner.
 10. The device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the pipe seating portion is provided with a seating channel having a curvature corresponding to a shape of the mixing pipe.
 11. A dryer comprising: a cabinet; a drum rotatably installed in an interior of the cabinet and receiving an object to be dried therein; a burner installed in the interior of the cabinet for producing heated air; an air duct for guiding the heated air produced by the burner into the drum; and a supporting member installed between a bottom surface of the cabinet and the burner for supporting the burner, and having a main coupling portion detachably fitted to the cabinet and an auxiliary coupling portion fastened to the cabinet by a fastening screw.
 12. The dryer as claimed in claim 11, wherein the supporting member has a support portion supporting a bottom surface of the burner, and a flange extending parallel with the base from an end of the support portion and forming the main coupling portion and the auxiliary coupling portion.
 13. The dryer as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cabinet has a latch member, to which the main coupling portion is inserted, and an engaging hole for receiving the fastening screw.
 14. The dryer as claimed in claim 13, wherein the latch member is formed by cutting and bending the cabinet.
 15. The dryer as claimed in claim 13, wherein the supporting member has a latch hole formed at the main coupling portion, and a latch boss formed at the latch member and inserted to the latch hole when the main coupling portion is inserted to the latch member.
 16. The dryer as claimed in claim 15, wherein the latch hole of the main coupling portion and the engaging hole of the auxiliary coupling portion have a same inner diameter.
 17. The device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the latch member is formed at a position corresponding to each of both corners of the main coupling portion, and has a triangular inserting groove corresponding to the corner of the main coupling portion.
 18. The device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a burner base interposed between the burner and the supporting member, on which the burner is seated.
 19. The device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the burner base has a body guide supporting the burner body, and a pipe seating portion supporting a mixing pipe of the burner.
 20. A device for supporting a burner, the device comprising: a base having an engaging hole; a burner for producing heated air; and a supporting member installed between the base and the burner for supporting the burner, the supporting member having a main coupling and an auxiliary coupling fastened to the base by a fastening screw, wherein the main coupling is inserted into the engaging hole. 